Geoffrey Howe

Geoffrey Howe (20 December 1926-9 October 2015) was the British Chancellor of the Exchequer from 4 May 1979 to 11 June 1983 (succeeding Denis Healey and preceding Nigel Lawson) and Foreign Secretary from 11 June 1983 to 24 July 1989 (succeeding Francis Pym and preceding John Major).

Biography
Geoffrey Howe was born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales in 1926, and he was educated at Winchester and Cambridge before becoming a lawyer. He was elected to Parliament in 1964 for the Conservative Party, representing the seat of Bebington. He became Solicitor-General in 1970, and was involved in issues such as industrial relations, and British membership of the EEC. Howe served as Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1979 to 1983, and he was responsible for implementing her radical monetarist economic policies. He became Foreign Secretary in 1983, but was removed from this post in 1989 to the office of Deputy Prime Minister, which at the time had little political weight. His effective demotion resulted from his differences with Thatcher; he believed that she exhibited an obstructive attitude which harmed British relations with Europe. A key speech made by Howe in the House of Commons on 13 November 1990 was influential in Thatcher's downfall.